Airport Tips for Planning Your Trip to Miami Airport

While going on a trip is exciting and fun, sitting at the airport and making travel arrangements is never as enjoyable. Whatever the reason for your trip to Miami International Airport, you can make sure you’re prepared. By making travel arrangements to and from the airport in advance, as well as planning out a set schedule, there are many ways you can make your visit to Miami International Airport a pleasant one.

Before Going to the Airport

There are a few things that you might not yet have thought of that can help make your flight experience much more comfortable. There are so many things to organize when you’re making travelling arrangements, it’s easy for the smaller details to slip through the cracks.

Choose Your Outfit Ahead of Time

To start with, always decide what you’ll wear during your flight well in advance. This isn’t so you can make sure you’re looking stylish, however. Instead, choose some of your most comfortable clothing and make sure that every single item of clothing your wear on the flight is some of your most comfortable. At the same time, keep in mind that you still need to look presentable, so don’t go in anything too informal.

Choosing your outfit in advance means you’ll be able to make sure it’s washed and ready on the day of the flight. It will also help you remember not to pack your chosen outfit into your suitcase.

Make Sure You Know Where the Airport Is

Studying a map of the airport location beforehand can help a lot. Knowing where you’re headed to will prevent you from getting lost while traveling to the airport. You can also lookup to see if you’re able to find maps of the airport interior. This can help you keep track of where your gate and check in area will be.

Take Some Entertainment to Stay Busy

Also consider how you’ll keep yourself occupied during flights, or while waiting for your next flight connection. Take a good book, compile a playlist you like on your phone, or load some movies you want to watch onto your tablet. While many airplanes nowadays have inflight entertainment with movies, music and other entertainment, there’s no guarantee you’ll find something that suits your tastes. If you’re planning to watch movies or listen to music, also be sure to take a good set of headphones with you.

Traveling with Children

If you have children flying with you, also take some things to keep them busy, such as a coloring book with pencils, a tablet with their favorite movies or a handheld game console.

When traveling with a baby or toddler, keep in mind that many small children struggle with ear pain on flights. It might be worth it to visit your doctor to get a subscription for pain medication that can help. When taking any medication onboard a flight, it’s always best to have a prescription, even if the medication you’re taking is an over-the-counter drug.

Hand Luggage Allowances

Always be sure to check what the hand luggage guidelines are for whatever airline you’re flying with. Some airlines will allow you to take a small suitcase as well as one additional piece of luggage, such as a handbag or laptop bag. Other airlines will only allow one piece of hand luggage, meaning you’ll have to choose between a small suitcase or your laptop.

If you have any special equipment, such as a camera, check to make sure you’ll be allowed to take this on the flight with you as well.

Traveling with Animals and Pets

If you’re planning to take a pet, or work animal, such as a blind guide dog, also be sure to make travel arrangements for your pet well in advance. Arriving at the airport with animal when you haven’t pre-arranged how they will be traveling could cause you miss your flight, as you simply won’t be able to leave the pet behind.

Tips for Once You’re At the Airport

Arriving at the airport can be a big moment, especially if you’ve never traveled anywhere by air before. Firstly, always try to arrive at the airport early. Even up to 3 hours before your flight. Once you’re at the airport, however, you don’t need to feel rushed, as you’re unlikely to miss your plane.

Locate Your Check-in Counters

If you’re traveling from a new airport, the first thing you should do when you arrive is to go to the area where you’ll be checking in. Just make sure your check-in counters are where you would’ve thought. As long as you know exactly how to get to your flight check-in, you don’t need to stand and wait there.

Charge Your Mobile Devices

Chances are you’ll be using your phone, tablet or laptop as a source of entertainment throughout the flight. To throughout the flight, your devices will need to be charged. Find a spot near a charging outlet and charge all your devices before you go onboard.

Don’t Be Hurried

Whether you’re waiting to check-in or to board your flight, there’s no need to be in a hurry. Passengers are often scared that their flight will leave without them, but this rarely ever happens. You don’t need to be waiting in the check-in queue the moment your flight is open for check-in. If you’re running late for your flight and the check-in queue is long, an announcement will usually call all the passengers that have not yet checked in to the front, meaning you might even be able to skip the queue.

The earlier you check in your luggage, the longer it will take you to get it on the carousel later. This is because luggage that’s checked in first is loaded into the plane first, so it will also be unpacked last.

The same applies for when boarding starts. There’s no use to queue by your gate ten minutes before boarding even starts. Waiting till the queue disappears before you board can offer many advantages. Once you arrive on the plane, most of the passengers will already be seated, meaning you won’t have to push your way through the busy, narrow passages to get to your seat. As an added benefit, you’ll easily be able to see what seats aren’t taken, which means you could perhaps get a better seat than you booked.

Transport to and from Miami International Airport

Transportation to and from the airport is one of the most important things you’ll have to plan. When planning your transport, remember that you won’t just need space for yourself, but also for all your luggage. Because of this, public transport isn’t a very attractive option for traveling to and from Miami international airport, as you might not have some space of your own to put all your things.

The most popular choices for transport to and from the airport include:

Taking your own car and paying for parking at the airport

Getting a ride through an app

Booking a Miami taxi cab

Taking your own car to go to the airport and paying for parking is a good option if you’re not planning to be away for too long. The downside of leaving your car parked at the airport, however, is that the longer you leave it there, the more expensive parking costs will be.

In some cases, you might just not be able to drive to the airport yourself. This leaves you with two options, either book a ride through an app, or call a taxi service. Both options have advantages and drawbacks. One of the biggest advantages of getting a ride through an app is that it’s usually available 24/7, however, most taxi services offer the same benefit.

Hiring a taxi to take you to the airport offers many advantages. For instance, most taxi services will offer a flat rate to drop you off at the airport and pick you up. You can book a taxi in advance so that your driver is already waiting once you arrive.

Just keep in mind that you’ll likely be charged for any time your driver spends waiting for you, so don’t book for your taxi to fetch you earlier than your flight will be landing. In fact, it’s better to book your taxi to come fetch you approximately one hour after your plane is expected to land. This will give you enough time to get your luggage from the carousel and get through customs before your taxi arrives.

If your flight is late, the extra hour might also help keep you almost on-time, even if you’re a bit late. In cases where you know your flight will be late before you take off, always remember to call your taxi and reschedule the time your driver must come fetch you.